What's more American than . . . July in Christmas?

Hee, hee.
I always do a fun "Christmas in July", so why not a "4th of July" for all of you in the Christmas season?

Okay, the truth is that we got this picture taken for Halloween and I just never got around to posting it.

Our family theme this year was "What's more American than . . ."

In case you can't tell from our very classy costumes:

David is "Uncle Sam"

I am The Statue of Liberty

Eli is a Revolutionary Soldier

Adam is a bald eagle

Gabriel is "Captain America"

and Isaac is a cowboy

*Our friend Dakota edited the picture for us--isn't it fun?!

We really are proud to be American every season and every day.

Isaac is 4 years old

Happy Birthday Isaac-a-la-la-pop!

We celebrated early--Dakota (our good friend who just left us for his mission to Tahiti) gave him his card a few days before. Isaac still loves T-rex, so Dakota created a Isaac T-rex for him.

And then we had a little party for him last night, Saturday the 3rd.

I molded green rice crispie treats into a happy, very-barney-like, T-rex to serve as his birthday cake.

He really enjoyed the party--He'd been looking forward to this for a long time!

The Treadwells came and so did our long-time neighbor-friends, the McDermotts. He knew that he was still 3, and he wouldn't let anyone get away with excitedly announcing that he was 4! But, he loved all the attention, and the mass of dinosaurs and other fun things he received.

(As I type this up, Isaac is making great dinosaur sounds and telling the story he is acting out solo with his new dinosaurs.)

Funny, sweet, onery, little Isaac.

He can be so darn adorable! I get a lot of comments on his sweet little "Excuse me" every time he wants to talk to someone. He is quick to say sorry after offending. He plays well on his own--though he doesn't often have to do it. He does the cutest cowboy poses when he has any kind of gun in his hand--but this cowboy stuff is serious business and they get greatly offended if they hear the word "cute" mentioned in their presence! He tells long yarns, often about T-rexes or his brothers--all include dying in lava, or falling over waterfalls and dying . . .

It isn't as adorable when he says "I don't like you, ever!" or "I'm not going to sleep with you again, ever!" (empty promise there--he still wakes up afraid most nights), or "I'm not going to live with you more, ever!" (After that last one I always say, "I will miss you." and he quickly says,"I'm sorry, mom." Actually it is kind of funny, especially when he tells me, "I won't let you change my pull-up anymore, ever!" (He was once potty-trained, but has decided it isn't for him, we are hoping it all works out soon).

He is a stinker, but we don't know what we would do without him in our family!! He is a favorite with all the brothers:

Gabriel says his favorite thing about Isaac is that he plays with him.

Adam gets a kick out of Isaac--he says he likes how he always says, "I'm the boss, okay?!" everytime they start to play a game.

Eli says he likes that Isaac is a "little Eli"--he is energetic, he's good at sporty things, and he loves dinosaurs!

Lolla-pop Moss, you really are getting BIG (that is what he wants most, ya know)!